The Origin
by byoda
Summary: "Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" Something evil has come to the small town of Forks. Originally a oneshot, but now expanded.
1. Chapter 1

"Bella, I need to talk to you." my father told me as he entered the house. He sat down at the kitchen table. I stopped making dinner and sat across from him.

He looked at me gravely, "I want you to be careful for a while, okay? Yesterday, a young couple was reported missing. A body was found this morning."

"Have you found the other body?"

"No. The girl is still missing. We don't have a trace of evidence. I'm putting some pepper spray in your bag, but I want you to be careful. Don't be going out alone."

I didn't argue. Charlie was often overprotective, but nothing like this ever happened in Forks. I would be visiting Phoenix soon, so I wouldn't have to worry about his over-protectiveness for long. This case would blow over and Charlie would be back to normal.

That's what I thought, but I didn't notice just how worried Charlie looked. I didn't know what the future held, either.

~o~

"Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" Alice asked me as we walked from our cars down to a flat field near the Cullen house.

"Yeah. Jacob's been staring at my ass since we got out of the Jeep."

"Not like that," she rolled her green eyes, "But remind me to kill him. It's just like...I don't know. Have you heard about the murder near here?"

"Yeah. Charlie's freaking out about it. He didn't want me to come today."

She shrugged, "Maybe he was right. Something weird is going on, Bella. I can feel it."

"In Phoenix, stuff like this happened a lot. It sucks, but nothing's going to happen. They'll catch the guy and it will blow over."

"It's different. I know it is."

I didn't argue. Alice had a sixth sense when it came to future events. As her girlfriend, I knew this better than anyone. If she said something odd was to happen, chances are she was right.

"Hey, will you two stop stalling and hurry so we can beat your asses?" Emmett called from the mock baseball field. He was swinging a bat and tapping his foot.

"Yeah, yeah." Alice ran out to the field while I sat in a grassy spot to watch the game. If I played, I'd end up falling and breaking something.

Emmett ended up with a home run and a chorus of boos from the opposite team. I was told to keep score but honestly knew nothing about the game. Alice kept missing the ball, but got mad at Jacob laughing at her, so ended up running off with the bat until everyone playing chased after her. Rosalie tackled her and the game resumed.

I was enjoying myself, watching the game until a dark chill fell over the field. The others felt it too.

"Crap, it's going to rain." Emmett complained.

Jasper glanced around, "I don't think so." He looked deeply disturbed.

Alice ran to my side and laced her fingers through mine, "Let's go. Now."

"Guys, nothing is going on." Edward said.

"Yeah. I don't know what drugs you guys are on, but..." Rosalie tossed her blond hair and laughed.

Then it stepped out of the woods.

I didn't get a good look at it, because Alice had grabbed on to me more tightly and pulled me away. The others ran behind us, but I don't know if they saw or not. My mind was a mindless roar. This was just not right.

We practically threw ourselves into the two cars we had brought, tearing out of the clearing in the woods. I felt like I was outside of my body. Alice was focused, driving away, concentrating only on our safety. Rosalie was staring out the back window, "It's not following us. Jesus Christ, what was that?"

Alice shook her head, "It doesn't matter. We just have to get out of here."

"Alice, was that what killed that couple?"

"Rose, I don't fucking know. We just have to get away. Okay? It's probably nothing."

But it wasn't nothing. We all knew that, really.

~o~

It was three weeks before anything else happened. Our group had taken over the Cullen living room for a sleepover. Alice and Edward's parents were upstairs watching a movie while we had popcorn fights and obnoxious games of Truth or Dare. I had just been dared to eat a handful of wasabi peas that had been found in the back of a cabinet when the lights cut out. Esme and Carlisle fumbled their way downstairs while the rest of us huddled on the couches.

"It's really fucking dark." Emmett grumbled.

"Language, Em." Esme reprimanded while searching for flashlights in the kitchen.

Alice curled up beside me, my arm around her, "I don't like this, Bella."

"The lights will be on again, babe."

"I don't know about that." Jasper mumbled.

"My cellphone service is out too!" Rosalie screeched.

There was a chorus of groans. Carlisle lit a couple candles that cut through the darkness, allowing a soft light, "Heaven forbid you can't text for a couple hours. How will we ever survive?" he teased.

We tried to stay lively after the power went out, but it was forced. Everyone tried, except for Jasper and Alice. They huddled next to each other, whispering back and forth. Edward and I made eye contact, showing unspoken concern. We had made no mention of the creature in the woods since that day, but I knew it was on everyone's mind.

"I wonder if we should drive out to town. It's only ten. We could see if anyone else has power, maybe hang out at the diner if they do." Esme suggested.

Alice was hesitant, but the rest of us agreed.

It was a mistake.

We piled into two cars, Emmett's Jeep and Edward's Volvo. Alice sat next to me and held my hand tightly. I kissed her briefly, but she was distracted. Carlisle looked concerned, but I just shrugged.

The town was deserted. Not a single person was out, and lights were out everywhere. We went store to store, all with open signs but not a single person inside. We tried a few homes, but our friends had disappeared. There was an unspoken fear among us. Hesitantly, I asked Edward to drive to my home. Charlie's cruiser was in the driveway. The door was unlocked, but Charlie was no where in the house.

"Where have they all gone?" I asked.

Alice shook her head. Carlisle tried to ease our fears, "Maybe there was an evacuation."

Alice lost her temper, "For what, Dad? They're gone. We have to fucking go. We need to get back to the house. Please!"

We drove back. No one spoke a word. Emmett followed us. There wasn't a single car on the road. We just became more and more worried.

Edward nearly missed the road to the Cullen house. The long trail from through the woods was like a barrier.

"This is probably the only reason why we haven't been taken. Because we're not in the immediate area. But they probably will find us now."

"Who, Ali?" Carlisle asked.

"No one. Them. I don't know."

"Baby, it's okay. No one has taken anyone."

Alice didn't argue. She just stared out the window, looking small and scared. I tried to pull her into me, but she jerked away. We all ran into the house, shaken and scared. We all looked to Esme and Carlisle for what to do next, but they had no advice to offer. Our phones didn't work and we still had no power.

Alice summed up our situation perfectly, "It's hopeless. We just have to sit and wait for them."

"Who is them, though?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't know." Alice said quietly.  
"They're not from here." Jasper stated matter of factly.

"Then where are they from?"

"I don't know. They just feel different."

"I feel like I can see them, but I can't. I know something is going to happen, I just don't know what!" Alice cried. Her face crumpled and she looked miserable in the light of the candles.

"So, are they like...aliens?" Emmett asked.

Esme shook her head, "That's ridiculous."

"I don't know. They're different. I can feel it. But they're the same." Jasper told us.

We went on like this. Alice stopped crying, but fell to hugging her knees and staring off into space.

Eventually, we all fell asleep. I don't know if it was willing. They gassed us, or the equivalent. They came for us.

~o~

We woke up far from Forks. Far from earth. I say they came for us, as if they took us away from all we knew, but honestly, they were just coming back.

We are them and they are us. Thousands of years ago, the first human stepped onto earth. We weren't human then. We were different. Earth was a trial, as our first world was failing. The human race was started on planet Earth, but forgotten and left by our origin. We grew and evolved. We forgot the race we came from and gained our own identities. We became human.

But now, they were back for us.

The original humans were special, the best in a line of the race we spawn from. They possessed special abilities that suited them for survival in alien Earth, but it was forgotten over time. Occasionally, it showed up in those special few, like our Alice and Jasper.

I don't know why they came back. Perhaps they are dying out. Perhaps we are needed. Or maybe they'll just use us and kill us.

We don't know. We don't converse. The language of our origin is completely foreign and this alien race has difficulty with English. They can speak with us, but choose silence. They have been scanning for years for the perfect place to start the abduction, but they have bothered to learn little of our ways.

We are kept in special rooms, completely white and soundproof. We have been separated by sex. Alice does little but sit on her bed and stare at the blank walls. Esme tries to comfort us all, but fails. Rosalie is dead, or worse. They have kept her separated from us.

Alice told Esme and I all of this at the beginning of our journey, then fell completely mute. We have no explanation about how she has this information. I feel she will be killed and my heart aches.

I've seen them. The race from which we originated. The aliens. They're humanoid, but dark, smaller. Their eyes are small and beady, their heads large. They look...twisted. Damned. Like every demon from hell imagined in the minds of humans of Earth. They give off a feeling of wrongness, something so alien and yet so familiar that it does nothing but revolt me. I fear for any life that is ahead of me.

There is no way to kill myself. Though this race may know little of the human race, they must know enough to know where we would turn first. The comfort of death. They must need us to serve some purpose.

I am afraid.


	2. Chapter 2

They've taken Esme. Alice and I are alone. Alice still refuses to speak and has taken to screaming in her sleep. I have taken to staying awake at all hours, trying to keep her sane. I don't know if I can. I don't even know if I can save myself.

I have befriended one of our abductors. She is the one to bring our meals. I don't know if they have genders, but she seems to be female. She can speak very little English but seems to understand more. From what broken phrases I have picked up, I can understand that Alice and I are to help. They are called the Antuuk, or something similar. The name of their race can not be translated to English.

Esme and Rosalie aren't dead. Yet. They are being observed. For what, I'm not sure.

The entire town of Forks has been abducted and taken on two separate ships. Their ships must be massive to carry such a population.

The human race is needed by the Antuuk for military force. They are losing a galactic war that Earth has been unaware of for decades. Humans originate from the Antuuk, and we are far weaker technologically and mentally, but they need the bodies. They are dying out.

Most humans will be of little use to them. Most humans are so different, so inferior that they are no use. But some of us are special. We have abilities that were passed down from our Antuuk ancestors that have been kept over the past couple thousand years. Like Alice and Jasper. And apparently, me.

I don't know how long we have been traveling away from Earth towards this foreign planet. The lights are constantly on and there are no windows. We are not fed at regular intervals as far as I can tell. The food is just a half hearted imitation of human food. I can barely stomach it, but try. Alice eats next to nothing.

I am losing hope.

Alice sits up quickly, "We're here."

"What? Ali, baby, thank god, you're finally talking."

"We're here. Oh no, oh no. Bella, what are we going to do? I can't see!"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here. We can't do anything. Can you see me?" I kneel down in front of her.

She shakes her head, "I can see you. I can't see what's going to happen. I can't, I can't, no, no, no, no."

The door to our prison opens. An Antuuk enters, taller and stronger than both of us, but still shrunken and horrible, "Humans, you come." it states in a harsh, raspy voice.

Alice stiffens in my arms, "No."

"Ali, baby, we have to. They'll kill us."

"No. Not with it."

"HUMANS, COME!" it stated, loudly, hurting my ears.

Alice cringed, "I can't."

"The other one. The one who brings our food. Can you bring that one? Then we will come."

"No. Come now."

I grab Alice's arm and pull her behind me. She doesn't resist, resigned to our fate.

"Humans should not fear. Antuuk will not hurt. Need help." our escort states, but I know Alice and I both doubt it.

Alice whispers to me, fast and softly, "They want us for war. We will be their weapon."

"I know."

We talk hesitantly, because I feel that while the Antuuk can understand English, it's a basic understanding.

"Must be quiet, humans."

I can't get used to their voices. Our captor leads us down a hallway, again white and bare like the room we were kept. We pass no other Antuuk. We're led to another small room and sealed in. The room was smaller and more bare, without any beds. I assume it was nothing but a holding cell.

Alice slumps against a wall, "How do you know?"

"I made friends with one of them. She told me."

"They are not our friends. They took us away from Earth, Bella. They want to use us for war!"

"I know, I know."

"How the fuck are you so calm? They are going to pick and choose who they want from Earth and USE them. They took our whole town!"

"They just need help! They're going to be wiped out!"

"For some stupid war! We have no obligation to help them!"

"They created us. We are part of them." I told her.

"I know, but that doesn't mean anything!"

I sat beside her on the floor, "How much do you know?"

"Apparently just about as much as you. I know that the Antuuk dropped off a portion of their massive civilization on Earth tens of thousands of years ago because their planet was failing, but they reversed that crisis and forgot about all the Antuuk they had left to populate Earth. The Antuuk on Earth made their own civilization, but it was fairly primitive as little technology had been left. Over time, the population grew and spread over the Earth. We evolved, fairly fast, but I assume that's just what happens when a species is dropped on a foreign planet. We became human, rather than Antuuk. Now they're back because they got into a war that they can't win. They need bodies to fight...and us, for their secret weapons."

"You got all that from your...visions?"

Alice nodded, "Yeah. It's not much, and it's not detailed, but it's something."

"More than I got."

"I also got a bad impression of the Antuuk. They are users who don't care who or what they hurt. They left their own people on a foreign planet and forgot about them."

"They came back."

"Because they got their asses into a war they can't possibly win!"

"It doesn't matter. We're here, aren't we?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but where is 'here'?"

I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend, "I don't know."

"I'm sorry about all of this." Alice sighed.

"It's not your fault."

She shrugged, "I mean for spacing out. I kept getting visions and they wouldn't stop, and when they did I had to figure out what they meant. I was scared and confused and trying to fix everything."

"You can't fix anything."

"I can try."

I kissed her gently.

"Alice, do you know how I'm...special?"

Alice stared at me, "I have no idea." she lied.


	3. Chapter 3

Alice lied to me. I saw it in her eyes.

"This isn't fair. You know. You saw it." I tell her.

She closes her eyes and lays her head back against the white wall, "It's bad. They're going to use you. I don't know exactly, but..." she trails off.

"Tell me, Alice."

"No, Bells, I can't. Okay? I just...can't."

I want to argue further, but I stop. Alice looks bad. We sit their together, my arm around her, both wondering at our fates. Alice lays her head on my shoulder, and I feel her falling asleep. I try to relax, but can't. Why am I so relaxed about the fact that we had been abducted? I am scared shitless, of course, but I feel like I understand it. The Antuuk are scared. They're dying out and have had close scares like this before. They aren't thinking out what they're doing. Like in the past, when they dropped off a portion of their population on Earth with little technology or assistance, they're trying to save themselves. I don't like it, but I get it. Maybe that's wrong. Maybe Alice is right.

The door to our holding cell opens, "Humans, come. It is time."

It is the Antuuk who delivered meals to Alice and I. She beckons for us to stand. I shake Alice awake gently. She's lost in a trance, but I take her hand and lead her.

"Do you know where the others are?"

The Antuuk shakes her head, "They safe, but I do not know where they are kept. They are being watched." Her voice is hesitant, like she can't find the words for what she wants to convey.

"Where is my father? Charlie Swan. Tell me."

"Arrived earlier than us. Already taken off ship and into base to be cared for."

"What will happen to him?"  
"No Antuuk will harm."

She hesitates, "I hope you not mad at Antuuk. We need help."

Alice listlessly trails behind me, lost in visions, but she snaps out of it, "Then you should have asked. This isn't right!"

The Antuuk shakes her head, "I know, I know. But we are dying."

"Because of your stupidity. You already abandoned the human race once! Now you're using us."

"We did not abandon humans."

"No. You abandoned your own people, and then forgot about them when your planet was restored. You nearly destroyed your home planet and left your own people with almost nothing to start a new civilization. They were defenseless in a new world! You are light years ahead of where humans are, but you didn't even leave your own people with the technology you had! They were promised that you would be back, but those Antuuk were lied to. You left them with nothing, not the return ship. You didn't even know if they would really survive on Earth! Now you are dying, so you're using us, their descendants, damn the consequences."

The Antuuk hesitates, "I do not understand all of your words, but I feel the pain. I am sorry I cannot fix."

We are lead to another room, this one less bare than the prior two. Suits line the wall, all white and sleek. The Antuuk gestures to them, tells us to put one on.

Alice hesitates. I follow her orders and put one on. Despite it seeming large while hanging on the wall, it fits perfectly.

"Why do we need this? If we come from the same origin, shouldn't we be able to breath the same air?" I ask.

The Antuuk explains, "Our planet has less oxygen. It works for us, but much harder for you to breath. Humans became used to the high levels on Earth."

"You left the original humans with suits." Alice glares at the Antuuk.

"Yes, I have been told."

"But only with a few spare sets. Once the Antuuk left, they could have died in Earth's atmosphere."

"No, no, they not die. Just much different once suits became useless. But, humans evolve quickly because of change, after generations it was much easier."

Alice still glares. I don't understand, "Alice, if the Antuuk hadn't been left on Earth, we would have never been born."

Alice explodes, "You're siding with them, Bella! You're siding with these...aliens! We don't come from them. We came from the poor Antuuk they abandoned! Do you really get it? The Antuuk on Earth were promised that a ship would return to Earth within a couple years, either with supplies or to bring them home! They were to test the Earth, to see if it was suitable for the Antuuk to migrate to should their own planet fail. But no, the Antuuk's planet was saved and restored by another alien race, and they forgot about the poor Antuuk still on Earth. We don't come from these Antuuk. We come from the ones who were left on..."

Alice doesn't get to finish. The Antuuk I had counted as almost a friend shoots my girlfriend. I scream and Alice jerks. She falls to the floor. There is no blood and no pain on Alice's face.

The Antuuk barks at me, "She fine. Will not die. But need to keep mouth shut. Understand?" She glares at me with her deepset, beady eyes. I swallow my protests and nod.

The door bursts open, with another Antuuk entering the room. It speaks to the other in their harsh language, pointing at my Alice on the floor. The strange Antuuk nods, picks up a suit and starts pushing the limp Alice into it. The Antuuk who shot Alice comes to me, pulls the suit's helmet onto my head, zips the front of the suit, and presses a couple buttons on my suit's sleeve. She snarls at me, "No escaping or killing self. You do anything, she dies. We try to help you, but you must help us first. Understood?"

I nod. The suit molds to my body perfectly, so walking along with the Antuuk is not difficult, despite her holding on to my arm with great strength. Alice is slung over the shoulder of the other Antuuk. She is not showing the faintest sign of waking.

We are taken through the ship. Again, I see no Antuuk but I know they are around. The Antuuk restraining me stops suddenly, almost making me fall. A door opens, and I am blinded.

We are here. The Antuuk can finally starting using the human race as their weapon.


End file.
